News
In this section of the website, we provide information about recent publications, awards received and achievements by LMAP researchers, and related activities in the Department of Anthropology at Penn. Details about the published studies can be found in the RESEARCH section of the website, as well as through the links associated with them.
August 2020 – Genetics of the Catacomb Culture
Ochir-Goryaeva MA, Kornienko IV, Faleeva TG, Aramova OY, Makhotkin MA, Kekeev EA, Burataev EG, Kukanova VV, Sidorenko YS, Chartier DR, Schurr TG, Tatarinova TV. 2021. Ancestry and identity in Catacomb culture burials: A meta-tale of graves, skeletons, and DNA. J Archeol Sci: Reports 37: 102894. Link
Image: Catacomb Culture burial from Ochir-Goryaeva et al. (2021)
October 2020 – Anson Street African Burial Ground Project
Fleskes RE, Ofunniyin AA, Gilmore JK, Poplin E, Abel SM, Bueschgen WD, Juarez C, Butler N, Mishoe G, Oubré L, Cabana GS, Schurr TG. Ancestry, health, and lived experiences of enslaved Africans in 18th century Charleston: An osteobiographical analysis. Am J Phys Anthropol 175(1): 3-24. Link
Photo: Reburial of the Anson Street Ancestors on 4 May 2019. Photo credit: T.G. Schurr
February 2021 – Native Mexican Y-chromosome Diversity
Gómez MR, Vilar MG, Meraz MA, Figueroa-Corona P, Véliz D, Zúniga G, Hernández EA, Figueroa-Corona P, Owings AC, Gaieski JB, Schurr TG, The Genographic Consortium. 2021. Y-chromosome diversity in Aztlan descendants and its implications for the history of Central Mexico. iScience 24: 102487. Link
Photo: XXXXX. Photo Credit: Rocio Gomez
February 2021 – Y-chromosome Diversity in Khazars
Kornienko IV, Faleeva TG, Schurr TG, Aramova OY, Ochir-Goyaeva MA, Batieva EF, Vdovchenkov EV, Moshkov NE, Kukanova VV, Ivanov IN, Sidorenko YS, Tatarinova TV. 2021. Y-chromosome haplogroup diversity in Khazar burials from southern Russia. Russ J Genet 57: 477-488. Link
Image: The Khazars: A Judeo-Turkish Empire on the Stepps, 7th-11th Centuries AD, by Mikhail Zhirohov & David Nicolle, Illustrations by Christa Hook.
April 2021 – Gullah Geechee Genomics
Zimmerman KP, Schurr TG, Chen W-M, Nayak U, Mychaleckyj JC, Quet Q, Moultire LH, Divers J, Keene KL, Kamen DL, Gilkeson GS, Hunt KJ, Sprulli IJ, Fernandes JK, Aldrich MA, Reich D, Garvey WT, Langefeld CD, Sale MM, Ramos PS. 2021. Genetic landscape of Gullah African Americans. Am J Phys Anthropol 1-15. [First published: 19 May 2021] Link
Inage: Photo of Marquetta Goodwine, also known as Queen Quet, shown here in one of St. Helena Island’s rice fields, has been chieftess of the Gullah Geechee Nation since 2000 (Courtesy of the Gullah Geechee Sea Island Coalition).
June 2021 – mtDNA Diversity in Norway
Kristjansson D, Bohlin J, Astanand J, Schurr TG. 2021. Matrilineal diversity and population history of Norwegians. Am J Phys Anthropol First published: 10 June 2021. Link
Image: Historic drawing of Norwegian populations. Image source: xxxxxxxxxxx
June 2021 – mtDNA Variation and Bioenergetics
Friedrich VK, Rubel M, Schurr TG. 2021. The role of mitochondrial genetic variation in human bioenergetics, adaptation, and adult disease. Am J Hum Biol First published: 19 June 2021 Link
Image: Overview of mitochondria-related processes from Dimmer, K.S., & Rapaport, D. 2008. Proteomic view of mitochondrial function. Genome Biol 9, Article 209. https://doi.org/10.1186/gb-2008-9-2-209.
December 2021 – HPV E6 and E7 Gene Variation
Totaro ME, Gili JA, Liotta JD, Schurr TG, Picconi MA, Badano I. 2021. Genetic variation in the E6 and E7 genes of human papillomavirus type 16 in northeastern Argentina. J Med Virol First published: 27 September 2021. Link
Image: Hating et al. 2021. Microorganisms 9(5), 891; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9050891
Dec 2021 – Genetic Variation in Pakistani Ethnic Groups
Tariq M, Habib A, Hemphill BE, Farooq U, Schurr TG. 2022. Contrasting maternal and paternal genetic histories of five major ethnic groups of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Nature Scientific Reports 12: 1027. Link
Image: KPP House and Committee Business Officers (https://www.pips.gov.pk/capacity_building/house-and-committee-business-responsibilities-and-functions-of-khyber-pakhtunkhwa-assembly-officers-2nd-to-4th-march-2022/
February 2022 – Neanderthal Fire Use
Abdolahzadeh A, McPherron SP, Sandgathe DM, Schurr TG, Olszewski DI, Dibble H. 2022. Investigating variability in the frequency of fire use in the archaeological record of Late Pleistocene Europe. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 14: 62. Link
Image: David Williams/SAPIENS (https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/neanderthal-fire/)
March 2022 – HPV Sequence Variation in Platyrrhines
Sanchez-Fernandez, C, Bolatti EM, Culasso ACA, Chouhy D, Kowalewski MM, Stella EJ, Schurr TG, Rinas MA, Liotta DJ, Campos RH, Giri AA, Badano I. 2022. Identification and evolutionary history of two novel papillomavirus sequences in New World monkeys (spp. Sapajus and Alouatta) from Argentina. Arch Virol 167: 1257-1268.1. Link
Image: Figure 2 from Sanchez-Fernandez et al. 2022.
April 2022 – Phylogeography of mtDNA Haplogroup U5
Kristjansson D, Bohlin J, Nguyen TT, Jugessur A, Schurr TG. 2022. Evolution and dispersal of mitochondrial haplogroup U5 in Northern Europe: Insights from an unsupervised learning approach to phylogeography. BMC Genomics 23: 354. Link
Image: Figure 2 from Kristjansson et al. 2022.
July 2022 – Genetic History of Micronesia
Liu Y-C, Hunter-Anderson R, Cheronet O, Eakin J, Camacho F, Pietrusewsky M, Rohland N, Ioannidis A, Athens JS, Douglas MT, Ikehara-Quebral RM, Bernardos R, Culleton BJ, Mah M, Adamski N, Broomandskhoshbacht N, Callan K, Lawson AM, Mandl K, Michel M, Oppenheimer J, Stewardson K, Zalzala F, Kidd K, Kidd J, Schurr TG, Auckland K, Hill AVS, Mentzer AJ, Quinto-Cortés CD, Robson K, Kennett DJ, Patterson N, Bustamante CD, Moreno-Estrada A, Spriggs M, Vilar M, Lipson M, Pinhasi R, Reich D. 2022. Ancient DNA evidence reveals five streams of migrations into Micronesia and matrilocality in early Pacific seafarers. Science 377(6601): 27-29. Link
Image: Figure 1A from Liu et al. 2022
September 2022 – mtDNA Diversity and Ewing Sarcoma
Kaneva K, Schurr TG, Tatarinova T, Buckley J, Merkurjev D, Triska P, Liu X, Done J, Maglinte DT, Deapen D, Hwang A, Schiffman J, Triche TJ, Biegel JA, Gai X. 2022. Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup, genetic ancestry and susceptibility to Ewing sarcoma. Mitochondrion 67: 6-14. Link
Image: Diagram from Netter Images – Elsevier
November 2022 – mtDNA Diversity in Kazakh Populations
Askapuli A, Vilar MG, Garcia-Ortiz H, Zhabagin M, Sabitov Z, Akilzhanova A, Ramanculov E, Schamiloglu U, Martínez-Hernández A, Contreras-Cubas C, Barajas-Olmos F, Schurr TG, Zhumadilov Z, Flores-Huacuja M, Orozco L, Hawks J, Saitou N. 2022. Kazakh mitochondrial genomes provide insight into the human population history in Central Eurasia.PLoS ONE 7(11): e0277771. Link
November 2022 – Phylogeography of mtDNA Haplogroup J
180(2): 298-315. Link
January 2023 – Genomic Diversity of Anson Street Ancestors
Fleskes RE, Cabana GS, Gilmore JK, Suarez C, Karcher E, Oubré L, Ofunniyin AA, Schurr TG. 2023. Community engaged ancient DNA project reveals diverse origins of 18th century African descendants in Charleston, South Carolina. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 120(3): e2201620120. Link
February 2023 – Impact of Fire on Lithic Fracturing
Abdolahzedah A, Leader GM, Li L, Olszewski DI, Schurr TG. 2023. Heat exposed lithics: An experimental approach to quantifying potlids by temperature. J Archaeol Sci: Reports 48: 103894. Link
Image: Figure 5 from Abdolahzedah et al. (2023). Color changes, cracking and potlidding after experimental heating. (A) dark red color after heating at 316 ◦C/600◦F for four hours; (B) dark red color and two horizontal cracks after heating at 483 ◦C/900◦F for two hours; (C) dark red color and numerous potlids after heating at 483 ◦C/900◦F for two hours. C = cracks, P = potlid.
April 2023 – Body Size Variation in Adult Male Orangutans
Kralick A, O’Connell C, Bastian M, Hoke MK, Zemel BS, Schurr TG, Tocheri MW. 2023. Body size variation among adult males and its implications for sexual dimorphism in orangutans (Pongo spp.). Integr Comp Biol icad015. Link
Image: Bornean male orangutan (https://theconversation.com/we-surveyed-borneos-orangutans-and-found-100-000-had-disappeared-91944)
May 2023 – Genomic Diversity of Colonists at Avery’s Rest
Fleskes RE, Owsley DW, Cabana GS, Bruwelheide KS, Barc KG, Griffith DR, Schurr TG. 2023. Historic genomes elucidate European settlement and African diaspora in Delaware.Curr Biol 33: 1–8. Link
Image: Figure 1 from Fleskes et al. (2019). Map of Delaware within North America; Avery’s Rest archaeological site is marked with a star. Map provided by americanhistory.si.edu.